WikiLeaks cables reveal ‘frightfully English’ Thatcher

US diplomatic cables from the 1970s published on a new WikiLeaks site on Monday document the early stages of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's "special relationship" with Washington. But it wasn't love at first sight.

Hours before Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, died after suffering a stroke on Monday, the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks announced the publication of more than 1.7 million US diplomatic and intelligence cables from the 1970s.

The latest trove of documents offers detailed insights on the rise of Britain’s Iron Lady as viewed by diplomats across the pond.

Slideshow: Britain’s Iron Lady (1925 – 2013)

Britain's First Female Prime Minister
Britain’s first female prime minister waves to the crowds outside 10 Downing Street as she arrives to take office on May 4, 1979, accompanied by her husband, Denis Thatcher. (Photo: AFP)

The Falklands War
An early test – and victory – came in 1982, when she dispatched a naval task force to retake the Falklands Islands after it was occupied by Argentine forces. The Falklands War lasted 74 days and paved the way for Thatcher’s 1983 re-election. (Photo: AFP)

Coal Miner's Strike
A hard-fought political victory came during her second term with the 1984-1985 coal miner’s strike – Britain’s longest and most bitter industrial dispute. The strike became a symbolic struggle that significantly weakened Britain’s trade union movement. (Photo: AFP)

Brighton Hotel Bombing
In October 1984, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) placed a bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, where the Conservative Party was holding a convention. Thatcher and her cabinet was the target of the bombing. (Photo: AFP)

The Men in Her Life
While her husband, Denis Thatcher (1915-2003) was the cornerstone of her success, her son, Mark (centre), was a source of trouble for his adoring mother during his Africa exploits in the Sahara and involvement in an Equatorial Guinean coup plot.

The Iron Lady Behind the Iron Curtain
As a staunch ally of US President Ronald Reagan, Thatcher was viewed as a champion of liberty in the Soviet Union, where she was given a warm reception during a 1987 visit. (Photo: AFP)

Uneasy European Allies
Thatcher’s hard line on Europe made for several tart moments with French politicians. French President François Mitterrand was said to be fascinated by her and is believed to have asked: What kind of man could possibly be married to Mme. Thatcher?

The Special Relationship
Under Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan, the “special relationship” between the US and UK reached new heights as the two leaders developed a warm public friendship. At Reagan’s 2004 funeral, Thatcher declared, “I have lost a dear friend.” (Photo: AFP)

Standing by Pinochet
In 1999, when General Augusto Pinochet was detained in Britain, Thatcher visited the former Chilean dictator at the home where he was placed under house arrest. Pinochet was released on medical grounds the next year. (Photo: AFP)

By the end of her 11 years at 10 Downing Street, Thatcher was to develop a remarkable friendship with her US counterpart in the White House. But during the early days of Thatcher’s rise to the national stage, officials at the US Embassy in London were not exactly enamoured by the rapidly rising British politician.

In February 1975, as then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger prepared to meet Thatcher, the US Embassy in London sent a classified diplomatic cable on “our initial impressions of Britain’s newest political star”.

They were not entirely flattering, to say the least. “Unfortunately for her prospects of becoming a national, as distinct from a party, leader, she has over the years acquired a distinctively upper-middle-class personal image,” read the cable.

The worst though, was still to come. “Her immaculate grooming, her imperious manner, her conventional and somewhat forced charm, and above all her plummy voice stamp her as the quintessential suburban matron, and frightfully English to boot,” the US diplomatic cable dismissed.

‘She has demonstrated skill and sureness’

At that time, Thatcher had just won the Conservative Party leadership race, a position that thrust her on the national stage, making the party’s first female chief a subject of interest among foreign governments.

But if the February 1975 cable was sceptical of Thatcher’s potential as a national leader, the picture had radically changed a year later.

In a March 1976 cable, the US Embassy in London was forthright about the new Conservative Party leader’s track record. “Margaret Thatcher has had twelve good months as leader of the Conservative Party,” the cable noted. “She has demonstrated skill and sureness in reinvigorating the party, consolidating her position as leader, and, after a slow start, improving her own performance and that of her Conservative colleagues in parliament,” before concluding, “…she is a credible potential prime minister.”

‘Kissinger cables’ in an accessible form

The newly published US diplomatic documents - commonly called the “Kissinger Cables” - date from 1973 to 1976, and include communications which were sent by or to the powerful US secretary of state.

UK reacts to Thatcher's death

While the cables were not classified and have been available at the US national archives, the latest release is part of a WikiLeaks effort to digitize documents and make them easily accessible in a searchable form on what it calls the Public Library of US Diplomacy or “Plus D”.

According to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the documents were analysed and assembled over the past two years at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has sought refuge in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sexual offences charges.

‘Her reaction was somewhat naïve, even girlish’

The cables provide an insight into Thatcher’s relationship with the US, which would mark the foreign policy of her premiership.

An October 1975 cable on Thatcher’s visit to the US and Canada noted that the “ambitious trip” was designed to broaden “her base of expertise in foreign affairs” and remedy “a deficiency in her background”.

The FRANCE 24 Debate

The cable went on to summarize the speeches Thatcher delivered in various US cities, noting that, “Mrs. Thatcher in reality had very little new to tell America. A review of her American speeches shows that they are typical Thatcher products involving a mix of statistics…glitteringly delivered, with occasional pungent turns of phrase.”

The most caustic comments, however, were by the undisclosed author of the cable, who produced a scathing account of Thatcher’s evidently enthusiastic response to American hospitality. “Her reaction was somewhat naïve, even girlish,” the cable noted, “she interpreted hospitable gestures of Americans as personal (i.e., for herself) rather than official welcome extended by Americans to leaders of all political parties in Britain.”

It was an early indication of what would become Thatcher’s unapologetic penchant for American hospitality. Six years later, when Ronald Reagan became US president, the “quintessential suburban matron” from across the pond displayed an almost girlish fondness for the Reagan brand of personal charm and for his uncompromising free market principles. Together, they presided over a “special relationship” that saw the end of the Cold War. For a woman who began her political career with a deficiency in foreign affairs, it was a rapid rise to the international stage.